Read Reckoning (Book 4 of Lost Highlander series) for Free Online Page B

away in the grate was proof of that. She pressed her hands into her stomach to keep the roiling sickness down.
    Evie turned and saw her standing there, quickly crossed the room and hugged her. “Don’t be daft,” she said. “I know you’d never do that. You couldn’t.”
    “How do you know?” she asked.
    Evie shook her, then pinched her arm. “See? I know that’s got to be annoying.” She pinched her again.
    “Ouch. Damn it, Evie, knock it off.”
    She gave her one more shake and dropped her hands, a self-satisfied smile on her face. “You’d never set me on fire,” she said confidently. “I could smack you upside the head right now—”
    “You better not,” Piper said with an eye roll, brushing past her to head to the kitchen. “Even if I don’t barbeque you, I will smack you right back.”
    “I’m not scared of you,” Evie said, her voice no longer teasing.
    Piper paused and closed her eyes, another wash of gratefulness soothing her inner turmoil like a balm. She nodded once and kept heading for the kitchen, knowing that Evie was behind her.

    ***

    Sam finished his sandwich, having flatly refused to even glance at the papers until he was properly fed. Now Evie was still upstairs getting Magnus bathed and changed for his bedtime, and they wanted to wait for her, since she was the one who’d made the discovery.
    Sam pointed out that grandma Rose’s name wasn’t all that uncommon, and perhaps the mention wasn’t of her at all. His opinion was roundly dismissed.
    Piper placed a slice of pound cake in front of him and sat across from him to pick at a slice of her own. She’d discovered it was easier to pretend to eat, force down a few bites here and there, instead of constantly explaining her lack of hunger, then trying to deflect the worry. Sam’s appetite was fine, and he smiled at her before digging in.
    “I’m going to ask Evelyn to move back in with me,” he said after making sure she wasn’t about to walk back in the room.
    Piper could tell he was nervous to bring it up by the forceful way he shoved the words out at her. As much as she didn’t want to be alone, she desperately wanted Sam and Evie to get back together. Not just for Magnus, but because they were still crazy in love, even though Evie was being obstinate about her secretive reasons for breaking up with him in the first place.
    And now that she had this new destructive ability to light up things that annoyed her, she would breathe a lot easier knowing that Magnus and Evie were safe from her. She pressed her knuckles into her eyes to keep from crying.
    “Good,” she said just as forcefully. “You want to get back together with her, right?” She hoped that was it, and not because Sam was scared of her.
    He didn’t know about her pyromania yet, but he did know about her possibly, most likely, being possessed by Daria’s foul spirit. God, she was a mess.
    He looked around again and nodded, leaning closer to her across the table. “Yes,” he said. “Will you help me?”
    She took a small nibble of cake to buy some time. As much as she wanted them back together, and believed it was the right thing for them, she had to respect Evie’s feelings.
    “I have to stay neutral,” she said sadly, then gave him a hard look. “Are you sure you don’t know what you did wrong?”
    He shook his head, looking momentarily outraged but quickly tamping it down. “No,” he said. “I haven’t the first clue. If she moves back in, I really feel I can win her back.”
    “She will,” Piper said. “She jumps at every noise ever since …” she trailed off as he blanched. None of them liked speaking of Magnus being kidnapped by Daria.
    “He’s asleep,” Evie said, breezing back into the room.
    Her top had wet spots on it from Magnus’s bath and her hair was coming out of her ponytail. She eagerly held out her hand in Sam’s direction and he handed her his phone. She smiled widely as she scrolled through all the pictures Sam had